By ensuring that the player understands the character's role, the Modern Warfare series is able to superbly tell a mediocre story, one whose politics are implausible and action is in no way representative of modern warfare.

By ensuring that the player understands the character's role, the Modern Warfare series is able to superbly tell a mediocre story, one whose politics are implausible and action is in no way representative of modern warfare

hat the player's primary allegiance is to the playable character, and their primary objective is to make sure the show goes on.

it’s sort of a mirror of Western culture and civilization interpreted in a different way

These are not realistic movies that try to be a perfectly accurate rendition of what happened on the battlefield. But they are authentic to the emotions that soldiers felt on the battlefield.

We wanted you to hesitate to pull the trigger. We wanted you to think about who these people are, how much like you they are, how they’re just trying to survive the same way you are.

How do you make a game that is trying to be disturbing and still make it fun enough that the person wants to keep playing

We think that there are a lot of different types of fun. Fun isn’t necessarily blowing things up and laughing. It’s fun to be emotionally engaged, especially when you actually have a controller in your hand and you have to think about the things that you do.

We want you to think about the bloodlust that you might have naturally, as you approach this game after playing so many other games. We wanted to put it right in your face.

We do take some liberties in the way we portray the weapons—we want it to feel like a real weapon, but at the same time we want to express the brutal, physical nature of these modern military weapons.

reflect on themselves and, well … being a citizen of this global community that’s in some way affected by the things that we as Americans are going through

Whether or not we’re paying attention to it, it is happening, and these conflicts are something we’re involved with because we live here, we take advantage of the circumstances that are here, and the things that keep our nation in the state that it’s in.

Video game console usage is hitting new heights, with 60 percent of U.S. households now owning a video game console, based on the fourth annual State of Media Democracy report based on a survey of the media habits of Americans.

Goodrich points out Medal of Honor: Warfighter makes no "realistic" claim—it is simply "authentic" in terms of the tools, weapons, uniforms, dialogue and other supporting features depicted.

"There is nothing real about a video game. Absolutely nothing," Goodrich says. "Combat is combat. Games are games. And we are an entertainment product."

"A movie is an experience, you go there to hear a story and be introduced to a subject that may touch you as a human being and for a moment, think about that sacrifice," Goodrich says. "We take that same tone. Our intent is to say thank you, and our intent is to put somebody in these boots so they can experience that

McShea argues that when Goodrich says "It's a video game" that it's a diminishing term or a lower standard, and that's a fair point. But, Goodrich says, "that's the business we're in ... it's the medium of our time. We try to do the best we can with Medal of Honor: Warfighter, with those core tenets and give an experience to our audience and understand what these guys may be going through and living through.

"They're having fun, they're experiencing it," Goodrich says. "They're taking that journey. They're in those boots. And while they're in those boots, I can tell them a story of a human being."

There is a severe disconnect in military shooters between the painstakingly lifelike weapons, environments, and all of the army-approved ancillary details and the actual combat.

This is a common occurrence that looks downright mundane spelled out, but the fact that it's expected is disconcerting. Soldiers cannot, in fact, take multiple bullets to the back, shrug them off like they're mosquito bites, kill whoever had the gall to fire in the first place, and then return to 100 percent health, all in less than 10 seconds. And this scenario is so utterly preposterous that it negates everything we're told the game is striving for.

By focusing on instant satisfaction and extreme accessibility, they turn real battles into a virtual fantasyland where no harm is lasting and no danger exists

This doesn't resemble real-life battles at all, and I find this very upsetting. Military games have turned war into a silly good time, and yet they hide behind their realistic claims as if they're doing justice to the armed forces. In reality, they're exploiting the people who give their lives for a cause they believe in. By focusing on instant satisfaction and extreme accessibility, they turn real battles into a virtual fantasyland where no harm is lasting and no danger exists.

In military games like Warfighter, that preach how much they respect troops and how realistic they are, I find it sickening and shameful that health is treated so unrealistically